Fire hits polysilicon factory in China

A fire hit a polysilicon factory owned by the company Hoshine Silicon and scared residents of the city of Shiheji, in northwest China, in the early afternoon of this Tuesday (8).

The incident occurred in a prototyping unit and authorities were called to combat the flames. No deaths have been confirmed and the causes of the accident are still being investigated.

According to Hoshine, the company's packaging production was not affected by the fire, which reassured some solar energy manufacturers, as input costs are increasing worldwide due to the shortage of polysilicon.

“The information we received, this Wednesday (09), was that this was a very small incident on a prototyping line (not mass production) and that it is pending further investigations. We do not believe that this will have new impacts on the supply of silicon, which is already very limited”, says Fernando Castro, country manager at JA Solar Brasil.